“It’s a hideous record. It was such a hugely painful mistake that happened in front of hundreds of thousands of people … and [it] just won’t go away. It’s like getting really drunk at a party and spilling your guts in front of everyone and feeling incredibly great and cathartic about it, and then waking up the next morning and realizing what a complete fool you made of yourself.”
—Rivers Cuomo, 2001

As we all know by now, a large swath of suburban misfits who came of age in the 90s &#8212 many who eventually began bands of their own &#8212 will forever beg to differ. We talked to members of Titus Andronicus, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Free Energy and more, to get their thoughts on the reissue of Pinkerton.

1. Which song from Pinkerton is your favorite?
“Tired of Sex.” I love this song so much. I love Rivers’ scream after the first chorus. I love how his songwriting is super vulnerable, but it still might be a joke. I love how fucked up it sounds. I love it all. Brilliant.

2. Do you have a specific memory tied to listening to the album?
It’s almost too early to remember. The Blue Album was one of the first albums I ever bought, and Pinkerton came soon after. I liked it as a kid, although I think I liked The Blue Album more. However, I have a very vivid memory of the time I pulled out Pinkerton in high school after not hearing it for a few years, and I was totally blown away at how amazing it was. Weezer is one of the few bands that I listened to as a kid that I still like today.

3. Has Pinkerton, or Weezer in general, influenced your band at all?
Definitely. Probably the sound of Pinkerton, more than anything else &#8212 how dark and live and crunchy it sounds. There’s a rawness there that we’ve tried to capture in our recordings, for sure. I like how the pallet of sounds they chose make the album really cohesive. You can picture them in a basement just running through the songs. Perfect album flow.

4. What are your thoughts on Weezer, circa 2010?
A lot of people have been down on Weezer lately, but, honestly, I’m pretty stoked on them. I saw them play at a festival in Montreal a few months back, and I was just so refreshed to see a band playing so joyously and unselfconsciously. Rivers running around like a maniac and jumping off the drum riser onto a trampoline. They just seemed so happy to be playing music and goofing off with each other… and it totally was infectious.